§ 29. Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of people at work, giving the proportion of the population of working age at work for years at convenient intervals over the past 35 years.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonFollowing is the information readily available:322W
Employed Labour Force* (June), Great Britain Year Thousands As per cent, of population of working age† 1951 23,056 73 1955 23,751 75 1959 (a) old basis 23,811 75 1959 (b) current basis 23,229 73 1960 23,643 74 1965 24,659 76 1970 24,197 75 1975 24,374 77 1980 24,156 74 * The employed labour force comprises employees in employment, the self-employed and Her Majesty's Forces. It will include some persons over working age. † The population of working age consists of men aged 15 to 64 and women aged 15 to 59 for the years to 1970 and of men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59 for the later years shown.